Stem cell research aids cosmetic and reconstructive surgery

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

It may be possible to use someone's own stem cells to make natural implants for cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, researchers say.
Tissue engineering involves taking cells - sometimes a person's own stem cells - and growing them on a scaffold into a particular tissue. Stem cells are primitive cells that can be persuaded, by the right chemical treatment, to grow into cells of a specific type - like skin, fat or muscle.

A team at the University of Illinois at Chicago now says that they have shown, using experiments in mice, that stem cells could be shaped into natural implants for cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. This would give a better performance in, for example, breast implantation. Current silicone implants may leak, rupture or interfere with mammograms. The natural implants could be free of such problems.

Stem cell-generated implants might also help in reconstructive surgery after breast cancer and to repair facial problems after trauma. The work depends on differentiating the stem cells into fat producing cells and the team's animal work has shown that this can, indeed, be done.

Source
American Association for the Advancement of Science 17th February 2005

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